Here’s a surprise: ANOTHER vampire title from Image. Despite the massive amounts of vampire
related stories the media’s been getting ever since Twilight hit book stores,
Shinku is a fun romp that I can’t help but think of in comparison to Undying
Love, another comic book about vampires that takes place in Hong Kong. Shinku also has an exotic setting that
is somewhat explored in this issue, and the art has a quality to it that makes
it stand out on the shelf.
Unfortunately there is little else that Shinku offers, but another
surprise (without the sarcasm) is that this story is still fun to read.The story of Shinku opens with an American visiting Tokyo
that is seduced and almost killed by a vampire. Luckily for him, Shinku arrives on her motorcycle ready to
save him. He quickly learns that
Shinku is the last member of a samurai clan that has dedicated her life to
killing vampires. The premise of the story written by Ron Marz is simple, to
the point and fun. It balances the
thin line between a complex vampire story and just straight up gore. But it does tend to stray towards the
“straight up gore” category. The
story is basic which is a nice change but the almost overuse of blood and many
gratuitous breast shots don’t really seem necessary… I know it’s nice to have eye candy but it still doesn’t add
anything to the story. The setting
also doesn’t seem to be utilized very much and with a setting like Tokyo there
is a lot that can be done with it in the future that I look forward to seeing,
hopefully woven within the story.The protagonist that seems to have a big focus in this story
is Davis Gunn. He seems like the
typical teen thrust into a vampire situation in need of a vampire slayer to
whip him into shape. There’s not
much to say about him yet, but so far he seems like your usual clichéd
character in vampire lore. Shinku
is there to do it for him. She is
not too developed yet, with only two pages giving a quick history of her
family. She has an interesting
story and seems like she could be a cool character to play around with but
still needs more time to develop.
Right now she’s just fun, but not too complex or fascinating. But the way she’s drawn, like many
other things in this issue, makes her all the more appealing.Even though I have mixed feelings about the art, it’s
surprising how good it is considering how many different people worked on it. The art is done by a team of three
people: Lee Moder, Matthew Waite and Michael Atiyeh. The characters and setting have a unique style that can be
both pleasing and irritating to the eye.
Blood and violence in the issue may be the biggest problem with the
art. The splatters of blood mostly
look like ketchup and some violent scenes that are supposed to be impressive,
like a full page dedicated to Shinku slicing a vampires head off, come off
funny rather than violent – which actually adds to the fun, despite usually
being something negative about the comic. The positive mentioned before was about the great drawing of
Shinku, who is mostly drawn as a voluptuous vixen always in beautiful blood-red
colors. Other great imagery is
quickly given to readers at the beginning of the issue with a picture of
Japanese style artwork. Another
great reason to add in more about the culture of Japan – it’s a great
opportunity to add in more Japanese art that the artists are clearly capable of
drawing well. Everything else art-wise
in the comic is not spectacular, but refreshing in a simple artistic style.This comic has a lot of elements that can easily be written
off as simple. But some of the art
is pretty good and even when it’s bad it’s funny enough that I forgive it. The story and characters are still
heavily in development but it is only the first issue. Despite the flaws, this issue is fun
and that’s what really matters to me when I pick up a comic to read it.Overall – 7.6/10
*Good - A solid book overall, might not be for everyone
but does have a fan base and they will definitely enjoy.*
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.
The premise of the story written by Ron Marz is simple, to
the point and fun. It balances the
thin line between a complex vampire story and just straight up gore. But it does tend to stray towards the
“straight up gore” category. The
story is basic which is a nice change but the almost overuse of blood and many
gratuitous breast shots don’t really seem necessary… I know it’s nice to have eye candy but it still doesn’t add
anything to the story. The setting
also doesn’t seem to be utilized very much and with a setting like Tokyo there
is a lot that can be done with it in the future that I look forward to seeing,
hopefully woven within the story.
The protagonist that seems to have a big focus in this story
is Davis Gunn. He seems like the
typical teen thrust into a vampire situation in need of a vampire slayer to
whip him into shape. There’s not
much to say about him yet, but so far he seems like your usual clichéd
character in vampire lore. Shinku
is there to do it for him. She is
not too developed yet, with only two pages giving a quick history of her
family. She has an interesting
story and seems like she could be a cool character to play around with but
still needs more time to develop.
Right now she’s just fun, but not too complex or fascinating. But the way she’s drawn, like many
other things in this issue, makes her all the more appealing.
Even though I have mixed feelings about the art, it’s
surprising how good it is considering how many different people worked on it. The art is done by a team of three
people: Lee Moder, Matthew Waite and Michael Atiyeh. The characters and setting have a unique style that can be
both pleasing and irritating to the eye.
Blood and violence in the issue may be the biggest problem with the
art. The splatters of blood mostly
look like ketchup and some violent scenes that are supposed to be impressive,
like a full page dedicated to Shinku slicing a vampires head off, come off
funny rather than violent – which actually adds to the fun, despite usually
being something negative about the comic.
The positive mentioned before was about the great drawing of
Shinku, who is mostly drawn as a voluptuous vixen always in beautiful blood-red
colors. Other great imagery is
quickly given to readers at the beginning of the issue with a picture of
Japanese style artwork. Another
great reason to add in more about the culture of Japan – it’s a great
opportunity to add in more Japanese art that the artists are clearly capable of
drawing well. Everything else art-wise
in the comic is not spectacular, but refreshing in a simple artistic style.
This comic has a lot of elements that can easily be written
off as simple. But some of the art
is pretty good and even when it’s bad it’s funny enough that I forgive it. The story and characters are still
heavily in development but it is only the first issue. Despite the flaws, this issue is fun
and that’s what really matters to me when I pick up a comic to read it.
Overall – 7.6/10
*Good - A solid book overall, might not be for everyone
but does have a fan base and they will definitely enjoy.* 
